Regulatory Compliance & Growth in the U.S.A & Abroad
DARA
Digital Asset Regulatory Authority
A Self Regulated Organization
Presented By:
DARA U.S & DARA International
Blockchain Legal Institute Foundation
Digital Asset & Tech News From Around The USA
- Follow DARA on LinkedIn for News Posts
- Protocol Feature: Hedera
- Federal & State Updates
- Special Speaker: Robert Whitaker, Merkle Science
- Next Steps
Global News
Hedera participated in the Bank of England (BoE) and BIS Innovation Hub’s (BISIH) DLT Innovation Challenge, which explores “Can wholesale central bank money be transacted and settled on an external programmable ledger which the Bank of England does not control, and where trust is not inherent”.
Hedera is an enterprise-grade public network and decentralized application platform that uses a unique hashgraph consensus technology instead of a blockchain. It is designed to be fast, secure, and efficient, governed by a council of leading global organizations, including Google, IBM, and the London School of Economics. The network is used to build decentralized applications, and its native cryptocurrency is HBAR.
Key Features
- Hashgraph technology: Unlike blockchains that use miners, Hedera uses a “gossip about gossip” protocol to securely and efficiently order transactions, resulting in high throughput and near-instant finality.
- Governance: The network is governed by a decentralized Hedera Governing Council of up to 39 leading organizations, who have equal votes on network decisions such as pricing and upgrades. These members are term-limited and do not receive profits.
- Decentralized applications: Hedera supports a variety of decentralized applications (dApps) for areas like DeFi, NFTs, and sustainability.
- Native cryptocurrency: The native cryptocurrency for the network is HBAR, which is used to pay for transaction fees and other services on the network.
- Energy efficiency: Hashgraph consensus does not require mining, which makes the network significantly more energy-efficient than blockchain networks that rely on proof-of-work.
Who Uses Hedera?
- Major companies use Hedera for various applications. For example, Google runs a governing node, and IBM uses it for supply chain and asset tracking.
- Other users include organizations like Deutsche Telekom, which uses Hedera for infrastructure support and explores its use in areas like loyalty programs.
- NASA has also funded research into using Hedera for secure aerospace data exchange
Learn More - Table Talk With Hedera Council
In the first episode, Mance sat down with Charles Adkins, Eric Piscini, and Rob Allen to discuss how Council members are driving adoption through real use cases, Hedera’s relationship with Google, the vision for HashSphere, and the challenges and opportunities ahead for broader network growth.
Federal Updates
On October 25, 2025, President Trump formally nominated Michael Selig, to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as Chairman.
White House Crypto and AI Czar, David Sacks, saying that Selig is “deeply knowledgeable about financial markets” and “passionate about modernizing our regulatory approach… to maintain America’s competitiveness in the digital-asset era.” Selig is considered a seasoned regulator and has extensive crypto experience. He currently serves as Chief Counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Crypto Task Force and as Senior Advisor to SEC Chair Paul Atkins. Before joining the SEC, Selig was a partner at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher and was also a law clerk at the CFTC for then-CFTC Commissioner Christopher Giancarlo.
CFTC
The CFTC has opened a Request for Comment on the Recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Market Structure, with submissions due in late November, which will shape how the Commission approaches digital assets and DeFi rules of the road. At the same time, relatively recent CFTC DeFi cases—including the 2024 Uniswap Labs settlement and enforcement action against three DeFi protocols, 2023 actions against Opyn, Deridex, and 0x—underscore why clearer, activity-based guidance is needed.
If confirmed, Selig would be positioned to shift the CFTC’s work to support digital asset innovation without reverting to case-by-case enforcement as the default.
State Updates Overview From
https://a16zcrypto.com/our-team/
- Traditional financial incumbents, like Visa, BlackRock, Fidelity, and JPMorgan Chase — and tech-native challengers like PayPal, Stripe, and Robinhood — are offering or launching crypto products.
- Blockchains now process over 3,400 transactions per second (100x+ growth in the last five years).
- Stablecoins power $46 trillion ($9 trillion adjusted) in annual transactions, rivaling Visa and PayPal.
- Over $175 billion sits in Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded products.
More Updates From Constellation Network
https://constellationnetwork.io/
- Western Union Enters Web3 – The payments giant announced USDPT, a U.S. dollar–backed stablecoin built on Solana and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, forming part of a new Digital Asset Network connecting fiat and crypto rails across 200+ countries.📎 Western Union Press Release – Oct 28, 2025
- Stablecoins Dominate On-Chain Activity – Over 70% of all on-chain transactions are now stablecoin-settled, as real-world payments and DeFi liquidity merge.📎 Coinbase Bytes – “Stablecoins Are Taking Over” – Oct 22, 2025
- AI Venture Funding Surges – Crunchbase data shows global VC funding hit $97 B in Q3 (+38 % YoY), with 46 % of that capital flowing into AI companies — led by Anthropic ($13 B), xAI ($5.3 B), and Mistral AI ($2 B). The AI boom is now shaping the broader Web3 and data-infrastructure investment landscape.📎 Reuters – “AI Venture Funding Continued to Surge in Q3, Data Shows” – Oct 6 2025
- Energy-Efficient Consensus – At just 0.0469 kWh per transaction, $DAG remains one of the most sustainable blockchains in operation, as cited in the MiCAR White Paper.📎 Constellation Achieves MiCAR Compliance
AI Updates
https://constellationnetwork.io/
Two bills were prefiled in Florida: SB 146, which requires the Florida Digital Service to conduct a study that addresses the impact of state agencies procuring, implementing, or operating AI-powered technology, and SB 202, which requires that an insurer’s decision to deny a claim must be made by a qualified human professional.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed SB 7882, which bans collusion using algorithm-enabled rent price fixing. Two bills were introduced in the Assembly: AB 9152 which prohibits certain dynamic pricing practices, and AB 9185 which includes AI under existing laws regarding making false reports of incidents to law enforcement.
Two bills were introduced in Ohio: HB 525, which concerns the use of AI in therapy services, and HB 524, which imposes penalties for AI models which suggest harming self or someone else
Compliance Tools Update
Robert Whitaker - Guest Speaker
Additional Resources
Visit BLI.TOOLS.
www.marylandblockchainassociation.org
Visit MARYLANDBLOCKCHAINASSOCIATION.ORG.